Iron Harvest Change Log #20

Greetings Harvesters,

With the precision of Anna’s shot, let’s get straight into it with all the improvements and greater game options this update brings.

Open Player Slots

Player slots are now open in Skirmish/Custom matches!

So, weather you’re playing against the A.I. or other players, this means that you can set-up players into two teams on any map however you like.

So on our 4 player maps you can play:

1 vs. 1
2 vs. 1
1 vs. 2
And of course still 2 vs. 2

While on our 6 player maps you can play:

1 vs. 1
2 vs. 1
1 vs. 2
1 vs. 3
3 vs. 1
2 vs. 3
3 vs. 2
And of course still 3 vs. 3

Go crazy experimenting with different team set ups, we’re sure you’ll have fun with this!

Just a note, because of the way the maps are designed, the maximum team size for that map cannot be changed, i.e., no 4 vs. 2. Also this is not Free for All because that requires extensive map reworks and/or new maps. We’re investigating this feature, however, right now we have other priorities and it would be a large undertaking. But, never say never.

AI Improvements

Recently, we pooled together all the feedback we could find from you about our A.I. because we see many of you love a good comp stomp with your friends. We thank you for telling us about odd little A.I. behaviors and quirks. We’ve rigorously investigated these. This led us down a complex rabbit hole that requires improvements to fundamental game systems.

Unfortunately, we’ve not completed as many A.I. improvements in this week’s update as we intended. We would rather not disappoint and take the time to polish and make adjustments to our proposed fixes with the aim to implementing them in a near-future. Once we are satisfied with their quality you’ll be hearing more about this. Thanks for your understanding.

Fortunately, we were able to fix:

Occasions whereby all the A.I. selects the same reserves have been prevented.
Skirmish A.I. can no longer build all infantry unit types regardless of faction. i.e. If the A.I. is Polanian, they can no longer build flamers.

General changes

This updates has many fixes and improvements which directly relate to your feedback:

All players have to signal they are ready and then, to begin a multiplayer match or coop mode, the host must confirm the game’s start.
An exclamation mark (!) now appears on a unit’s portrait and unit’s overhead U.I. to indicate when it has been suppressed.
Anna’s piercing shot now fires more consistently and is a priority for her over all other actions/animations.
Wojtek now heals allied infantry while Anna is in cover.
Gunter von Duisburg “Iron Fist” ability no longer causes him to wait 3 or 4 seconds before responding to new commands after landing the hit.
Unit abilities no longer trigger on mouse up click if not hovering over the button.
Keyboard shortcuts for Abilities (and everything in the skill grid), group assignment, group selection and direct structure selection are now triggered on down-press events instead of up-press events. This will improve perceived response times.
The cavalry commander Michal Sikorski can no longer pick up weapon and victory point crates.
Numerous balance and unit adjustments to keep the 2nd challenge mission “Stronghold Siege” difficult, but now much more achievable.
The secondary objectives and challenges on the 2nd challenge mission “Stronghold Siege” has been reworked to also make them easier to achieve.
Minor adjustments to the rock placement and destroyer cannons on the 2nd challenge mission “Stronghold Siege”, as well as fixed dialogue and Artillery shoutout bugs.
Crewing the destroyer cannons no longer counts against "Build no fortification” achievement on Rusviet’s 4th campaign mission “Infiltrating Saxony”.
Olga now retreats to saxony medic tents when built on Saxony’s 5th and 6th Campaign missions.
Fixed the U.I. of Polania’s barracks that displayed two rows for T1 infantry. Now it displays one row and is consistent with other faction barracks U.I.
Unit portraits no longer selectable by mouse drag box.
Stiefmutter Gyro wheels no longer freeze in place if the target becomes neutral.
If a player leaves (concedes) a campaign mission, challenge map or AI skirmish they now see a defeat screen and are awarded achievements and season progression they have unlocked during that game.
Fixed occasions when an upgraded resource point would appear as an empty circle icon on the minimap.
Fixed flashing cutscene transitions during the Rusviet Revolution campaign missions.
Mines are no longer activate when in range of fallen enemy mech heroes.
Fixed wrong hours being displayed in the ranked screen for played time.
Players who are not a host during coop sessions no longer get sent to the campaign overview screen after finishing the coop mission.
Player colors now correctly reflect the players in lobby when positions are changed.
Barracks U.I. no longer has the same hotkey for two different units.
Zubov’s Bloodlust ability now only replenishes HP for melee attacks.
Ranked matchmaking now remembers player's search preferences.
Fixed achievements not refreshing when switching the game language.
Issuing, usually accidentally, directional commands via the minimap has been disabled.

Balance changes

Suppression: Is now more intuitive and clearer. A lot of units that are not primary sources of suppression have had their values reduced, whereas the Heavy Machine Guns, for example, has received higher suppression values. The list is too long to write here, but you’ll notice many units received a tweak.

Also, for clarity, a suppression icon (!) is now displayed on units' overhead U.I. and on their unit portrait.

Mechs and Infantry: We were still seeing that light/T1 mechs are often skipped out on and also buried under a flood of infantry. To address this, we’ve decrease workshop costs and increase barracks upgrade costs as well as given buffs to light/T1 mechs to help players transition better into the later stages of the game.

Polania Advanced Barracks cost increased from 180 to 340 iron and 85 to 100 oil.
Saxony and Rusviet Advanced Barracks cost increased from 180 to 380 iron and 85 to 120 oil.
Polania Workshop cost decreased from 400 to 250 iron and 120 to 100 oil.
Saxony Workshop cost decreased from 450 to 250 iron and 150 to 130 oil.
Rusviet Workshop cost decreased from 500 to 300 iron and 165 to 140 oil.

Mortar Weapon System: Received a clearer definition of its purpose in being a high threat to infantry.

Damage vs. unarmored increased from 65 to 70.
Damage vs. light armor decreased from 100 to 50.
Damage vs. medium and heavy armor decreased from 100 to 40.

Lech Kos (Rebel Leader): The damage per second increase he received from his passive ability made him hard to properly respond to. We’ve adjusted the thresholds at which this ability kicks in so that now it requires more thought on how best to deploy him. His ability to harm structure was also too high and so has been reduced.

Reduced damage to structures from 80 to 60.
Changed the HP thresholds at which his passive ability activates: State 1, from 90% to 60% HP and State 2 from 50% to 20% HP.

Strażnik (Spider Mech):

Increased HP 550 to 600.

Śmiały (Scout Mech):

Increased HP from 750 to 850.
Increased damage vs. medium armor from 60 to 70.
Increased damage vs. heavy armor from 35 to 50.
Increased damage vs. structures from 30 to 35.
Oil cost decreased from 120 to 110.

Grimbart (Gatling Mech):

HP increased from 1000 to 1100.
Cost decreased from 90 to 80 oil.

Isegrim (Tank Mech):

HP Increased from 800 to 950.
Cost decreased from 120 to 110 oil.

Wotan (8 Legged Mech): Now that light/T1 mechs have received an upgrade, its HP should compensate.

HP increased HP 600 to 700.

Victor Popov: His high Area of Effect damage caused him to gain veterancy very quickly. It is now slower and with slightly lesser impact so that he is more easily countered at higher veterancy levels. Overall, his auto attack damage was too high, so it has been reduced to make him more reliant on his abilities for dealing damage.

Veterancy bonuses decreased.
Veterancy thresholds increased.
Hitbox slightly increased.
Damage vs. unarmored, light, medium and heavy armor decreased from 40 to 30.
Damage vs. structures decreased from 25 to 20.

Ognivo (Flamer Mech):

HP increased from 700 to 750.

Kolokol (Bomber Mech):

HP increased from 800 to 900.
Damage increased vs. medium armor from 55 to 65.
Damage increased vs. heavy armor from 35 to 50.

Groza (Rocket Exosuits): We felt that they were left behind and their resource costs would be too high compared to the other T1 mechs.

Oil cost reduced cost from 100 to 80.

Nakovalnya (Rocket Artillery): It’s Sentry Mode has always been very strong and it is not always easy to see where it will strike. Therefore, we’ve reduced the punishment opponents get when not immediately realizing that they’ve strayed into its attack range.